The 2007 Cataluña Costa Brava PWA World Cup Slalom – Day 1
After the draw was made signs of a sea breeze had the race crew setting a course and around mid-afternoon Race 1 got underway.
No drama
Sadly only 3 heats were complete, and most of the form players such as Kevin Pritchard (Starboard / MauiSails), Micah Buzianis (JP / NeilPryde) and Antoine Albeau (Starboard / NeilPryde) advanced.
Bjorn leads the pack
Race Mark action
A storm brewing?
Heat 1
1. Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (F2 / NeilPryde) of Argentina passes the first hurdle in his first event of the season.
2. Antoine Albeau – Took no risks and played it safe to advance to semis
3. Robby Swift (JP / NeilPryde) – Already showing signs of backing up his debut Slalom performance in Korea.
Heat 2
1. Ben Van Der Steen (Exocet / Naish) – A good start from this warp-speed speed freak, who’s often too keen and over early.
2. Steve Allen (Tabou / Gaastra) – Missed the Korea event, but showing years of experience in qualifying through a tough heat.
3. Bora Kozamoglu (F2 / NeilPryde) – A strong start from the Turk.
Heat 3
1. Julien Quentel (Starboard / NeilPryde) – A successful young Formula racer and newcomer to PWA slalom this season who showed well in Ulsan.
2. Pieter Bijl (Fanatic / NeilPryde) – No mistakes from the NeilPryde team R&D manager.
3. Cyril Moussilmani (Fanatic / North) – Eases through without any fuss.
Missing the cut…
Patrick Diethelm (F2 / North) – Caught in the traffic. F2’s Shaper, racer and speed sailor is bound to bounce back.
Dan Ellis (Fanatic / Naish) – ‘I got fully stuck in dirty air at the 3rd mark and struggled to get going again. These sort of fluky light conditions just don’t suit me’ Dan will be praying the stronger sea breezes show up as forecast later in the week.
Still to race
A heavily-laden heat of big names containing…
Bjorn Dunkerbeck (T1 / North), Bernd Flessner (F2 / NeilPryde), Arnon Dagan (Fanatic / NeilPryde), Peter Volwater (F2 / North), tour leader Kevin Pritchard, and more.
Skipper’s meeting tomorrow is at 10.00, and the forecast is positive for an afternoon thermal wind.
Keep up to date
Be sure to stay informed with every piece of the action at www.pwaworldtour.com
Here you can use our:
• Live ticker service for race by race bulletins
• Check live elimination ladders
• View results
• Read daily news summaries
• Browse awesome action photo galleries
Plus, tomorrow you’ll be able to watch video footage of all the action.
